The present invention relates to the field of information processing, and more specifically relates to Chinese character entry via a Pinyin input method.
There are various Pinyin input methods available for quickly inputting Chinese characters on devices, such as computers and mobile phones, by entering Chinese character Pinyin letters. A Shuangpin input method has been proposed in the known art, by which a Chinese character may be input through entering merely two letters. However, the Shuangpin input method requires users to remember correspondences between keyboard letters and initial symbols and correspondences between keyboard letters and final symbols.
A Pinyin input method used on touchscreens has been disclosed in CN101950240. According to the specification of the input method, users need not remember correspondences between keyboard letters and initials/finals. A user may complete the Pinyin input of a Chinese character through two strokes or touch actions. According to this input method, in an initial state, an initials keyboard having all initials arranged thereon is presented on a touchscreen. At first, a user may click on or touch an initial key on the initials keyboard, and then the relevant system may dynamically switch the initials keyboard to a finals keyboard, on which final keys that may be used in conjunction with the selected initial are presented. The user may click on or touch a final key on the finals keyboard to complete the Pinyin input of a Chinese character. The system retrieves Chinese characters based on the input content of this Pinyin input and puts them in a candidate character area as candidates that may be selected by the user. After a user selection from the candidate Chinese characters, the system may return to the initial state.
During such Chinese character input process, either an initials keyboard or a finals keyboard, on which finals keys that may be used in conjunction with a present initial are arranged, is displayed. Upon display of an initials keyboard (e.g., in the initial state), to enter a vowel (e.g., “a”) a user must click on or touch a function key other than initial keys on the initials keyboard to switch the initials keyboard to a finals keyboard. Upon display of a finals keyboard, if a user wants to reenter an initial (e.g., in order to correct an initial entered by mistake), the user must click on or touch a function key other than final keys on the finals keyboard to switch back to the initials keyboard. During such input process, the user may only view either the initials keyboard or the finals keyboard at any given time, which is inconvenient to intuitive operation.